Austin Sound

We’ve always wondered what it would take to get C3, SXSW, and Transmission on a single stage, and while we were disappointed that this afternoon’s event wasn’t a battle royal cage match, we do give two hearty thumbs of approval to the three biggest music forces in town (along with a number of other venues, musicians, and businesses) joining forces to help create the new non-profit Austin Music People. AMP will basically seek to be an advocacy group for the local music business, a pooling of resources and influence to help actually get stuff done for the local music scene. If that sounds a little familiar, perhaps it’s because it sounds a lot like the Live Music Task Force’s efforts to create a Music Department within the city government. In fact, former Task Force chair Paul Oveisi will serve as AMP’s first Executive Director. But as we all know, bureaucracy is not nearly as effective as lobbying, so hopefully AMP will have a lot more luck in asserting a music-friendly agenda. And with folks from C3, SXSW, and Transmission on board as inaugural members, there’s bound to be some VIP passes to hot events available for those influential city council members and state congressmen! Just sayin’. AMP will be out recruiting folks to join them at ACL, as well as Fun Fun Fun Fest, and next year’s SXSW and Pachanga! Fests. You can find out more info on their website, as well as sign up for their newsletter and become a member.

(Photo via Andy Langer’s Twitter)